Events + Media

Draper Lecture Series: Mark Gillem

Monday,
11/04/13 5:00pm
–
6:00pm305 Wurster Hall

Mark Gillem is an associate professor of architecture and urban design at the University of Oregon. His book America Town: Building the Outposts of Empire (University of Minnesota Press, 2007) draws on a decade in the U.S. Air Force, both as an architect and planner and as a faculty member of the Air Force Institute of Technology. America Town examines the forces behind the exportation of the American lifestyle to military bases abroad and explores the impact of this approach on foreign lands. He also contributed an essay on this topic to Indefensible Space: The Architecture of the National Insecurity State, edited by Michael Sorkin (Routledge, 2007).

Gillem addresses sustainability, social responsibility, and historic preservation through his research and his professional practice. The Federal Planning Division of the American Planning Association recently honored him with a design award for his compact development design for Aviano Air Base in northern Italy; Gillem’s design creates the potential for NATO to return a 13-acre parcel in the town center to the Italian government. He received this recognition from the APA twice previously for air base master plans in Korea and Texas. Other honors include a Design Excellence Award from the U.S. Air Force and the Crocker Award for Teaching Excellence at the Air Force Institute of Technology. His diverse portfolio includes a renovation honored by the Berkeley Architectural Heritage Association (California) and pro bono designs for projects in New Guinea, Guatemala, and Indonesia. Gillem serves on the board of the International Association for the Study of Traditional Environments.

His practice, The Urban Collaborative (http://www.urbancollaborative.com/), is currently analyzing the potential for mixed-use development and infill to be created by the conversion of an arterial road in Eugene into a multi-way boulevard with funding from the Oregon Transportation Research and Education Consortium.

This lecture is part of the Fall 2013 Draper Architecture Lecture Series, which features CED alumni speakers. The series is funded by the Joan E. Draper Architectural Research Endowment. All lectures take place in 305 Wurster Hall, and are open to the public. Refreshments are provided.